Actor Voice: Relative Clauses | Filipino Grammar

An actor-voice relative clause describes a noun whose referent is understood as the actor pivot inside that clause: ang gurong nagturo sa amin “the teacher who taught us.” The head noun is joined to a clause with the linker -ng/-g/na, and the actor position inside the relative clause is left as a gap. Voice is essential because the gap must match the role selected by the verb.

The head corresponds to an actor-pivot gap

Start with an ordinary actor-voice clause:

Nagturo sa amin ang bagong guro noong nakaraang semestre.

The new teacher taught us last semester. (independent actor-voice clause)

When ang bagong guro becomes a modifier phrase, the actor is not repeated inside the relative clause:

Dumalo sa programa ang bagong gurong nagturo sa amin noong nakaraang semestre.

The new teacher who taught us last semester attended the program.

In gurong nagturo sa amin, the understood actor of nagturo is the teacher. There is no overt siya after the verb because the head noun already supplies that participant.

Head ending	Linker form	Actor-relative phrase
vowel	suffix -ng	babaeng kumanta sa entablado
n	suffix -g	kaibigang tumulong sa atin
other consonant	separate na	drayber na naghatid sa mga bisita

These are ordinary linker allomorphs, not three different relative pronouns. Filipino has no obligatory equivalent of English who between an overt head and this relative clause.

Kilala mo ba ang babaeng kumanta sa pagtatapos kagabi?

Do you know the woman who sang at the graduation ceremony last night?

Nagpasalamat kami sa kaibigang tumulong sa amin noong bumaha.

We thanked the friend who helped us when it flooded.

Hinahanap ng tagapangasiwa ang drayber na naghatid sa mga bisita.

The administrator is looking for the driver who brought the guests.

The head phrase's marker—ang, sa, or another form—is assigned by the larger clause. Inside each relative clause, however, the head corresponds to the missing actor pivot.

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Keep two grammatical environments separate: the main clause assigns the marker to the whole head phrase, while the relative clause's voice determines the missing participant's role.

The head need not be an ang phrase in the main clause

The same actor-relative structure can modify a head that is non-pivot in the larger sentence.

Naghahanap kami ng teknikong nagkukumpuni ng lumang makinang panahi.

We are looking for a technician who repairs old sewing machines.

Ng tekniko is the patient/theme of main-clause naghahanap. Within na nagkukumpuni..., the technician is still the understood actor pivot. The main-clause ng does not make the relative-clause gap a patient.

Likewise, a sa phrase can contain an actor relative:

Ibinigay ko ang talaan sa kawaning nagbabantay sa pasukan.

I gave the list to the employee who is guarding the entrance.

Sa kawani is the recipient in the main clause, while the employee is the missing actor of incompleted nagbabantay.

Aspect changes while actor voice remains

Relative clauses can present the actor's event as completed, incompleted, or contemplated. The head remains the actor pivot in each case.

Aspect	Relative clause	Interpretation
completed	ang mamamahayag na nag-ulat kahapon	the reporter who reported yesterday
incompleted	ang mamamahayag na nag-uulat ngayon	the reporter who is reporting now
contemplated	ang mamamahayag na mag-uulat bukas	the reporter who will report tomorrow

The time expressions help locate the events, but voice consistently selects the reporter as actor pivot. Do not treat nag-ulat, nag-uulat, and mag-uulat as person agreement or simple English tense endings.

Nakausap ko ang mamamahayag na mag-uulat mula sa kapitolyo bukas.

I spoke with the reporter who will report from the capitol tomorrow.

Why a patient head requires a different voice

Filipino relative clauses normally require the head's role inside the relative clause to be selected as pivot. If the head is the patient, actor voice is therefore not the neutral construction.

Compare two perspectives on one cooking event:

Dumating na ang kusinerong nagluto ng sopas para sa mga bantay.

The cook who prepared soup for the guards has arrived. (actor head; actor voice)

Inihain na ang sopas na niluto ng kusinero para sa mga bantay.

The soup that the cook prepared for the guards has been served. (patient head; patient voice inside the relative clause)

In kusinerong nagluto ng sopas, the cook is the missing actor of actor-voice nagluto. In sopas na niluto ng kusinero, the soup is the missing patient of patient-voice niluto, and the cook is expressed with ng. Both relative clauses can translate with an active English clause. The second is not an optional passive stylistic variant; its voice licenses a different relativized role.

Location, beneficiary, and instrument heads similarly require voice forms that select those roles where the lexical verb allows them. See the relative-clause overview for the full system.

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Translate only after selecting the relative head's role. English who/that/which does not reveal whether Filipino needs actor, patient, locative, or another voice.

Negation, questions, and information structure

Negation appears inside the relative clause without changing the actor gap.

May empleyado bang hindi dumalo sa pagpupulong kaninang umaga?

Is there an employee who did not attend the meeting this morning?

The whole existential is questioned with ba; hindi dumalo describes the missing actor corresponding to empleyado.

Relative clauses commonly help identify a referent in conversation.

A: Nasaan ang drayber na naghatid sa mga panauhin? B: Siya ang lalaking naghihintay sa tabi ng tarangkahan.

A: Where is the driver who brought the guests? B: He's the man waiting beside the gate.

The first relative clause identifies the driver through a completed action. The second identifies him through an ongoing actor-voice action. Siya ang... is an identificational structure; it does not mean every ordinary relative clause needs two ang-form expressions.

Common Mistakes

Omitting the linker

❌ Nakilala ko ang guro nagturo kay Mila noong bata pa siya.

Incorrect — the head noun and relative clause require a linker.

✅ Nakilala ko ang gurong nagturo kay Mila noong bata pa siya.

I met the teacher who taught Mila when she was young.

Repeating the actor pivot inside the relative clause

❌ Dumating ang mekanikong nag-ayos siya ng makina.

Incorrect — the head mechanic already fills the actor gap; siya cannot repeat it.

✅ Dumating ang mekanikong nag-ayos ng makina.

The mechanic who repaired a machine arrived.

Using actor voice for a patient head

❌ Nawawala ang liham na sumulat si Dina kahapon.

Incorrect for 'the letter that Dina wrote' — sumulat selects the writer, not the letter.

✅ Nawawala ang liham na sinulat ni Dina kahapon.

The letter that Dina wrote yesterday is missing. (patient-relative clause)

If the head is Dina, actor voice is correct: ang babaeng sumulat ng liham “the woman who wrote a letter.” Changing voice changes which participant the relative clause can describe.

Giving the relative clause a second ang-marked patient

❌ Kinausap ko ang kawaning nagdala ang bagong talaan.

Incorrect — actor-voice nagdala takes an ng-marked patient.

✅ Kinausap ko ang kawaning nagdala ng bagong talaan.

I spoke with the employee who brought a new list.

Key Takeaways

In an actor-voice relative clause, the head corresponds to an unspoken actor pivot.
Join the head and clause with -ng after a vowel, -g after n, and separate na after other consonants.
The main clause assigns the whole head phrase's overt marker; relative-clause voice identifies the internal gap.
A patient, location, beneficiary, or instrument head requires an appropriate non-actor voice in the relative clause.
Aspect and negation can change inside the relative clause without changing the actor role of its head.

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